A senior United Nations official and another from the European Union left Afghanistan on Thursday after the government ordered their expulsion, accusing both of holding talks with the Taliban and for paying cash to the group.

Add onto that this story about Iran contributing to Afghanistan, and some whispered rumours around Ottawa that an international agency has determined that China has been helping Iran equip Taliban fighters with high-tech weapons, and it seems that the list of countries helping terrorists gets pretty long. The definition of "allies" may be a little more fluid and fuzzy than most people appreciate, but I'm pretty sure it can be more solid and delineated than what we have going on now...